Much better than Quiet Is the New Loud! - For the most part, Versus is an album of remixes from Quiet Is the New Loud. But it s actually more than that: it s a step above its parent album. The remixed versions keep you into the album, something that the original tracks were unable to do for the most part. While I still prefer the band s (much folkier-sounding) Riot on an Empty Street, Versus is a pretty good album by the Norwegian duo.
if you feel like stoning - Very good chillout music. Royksopp s rendition of Don t know what I can save you from is reminiscient of the background music of the old kid s computer game Treasure Cove, which is laidback and lovely. The circus-sounding Leaning against the Wall by Evil Tordivel is fresh and amusing, and Winning a Battle, Losing a War should be heard by anyone who s ever loved someone without being loved in return.
Who wouldn t like this? - I see I m not the first person who was a little shall-we-say skeptical of the concept. I mean, really. Electronica remixes of acoustic folk lullabyes? Does it get any more gimmicky?Yea, all signs pointed to save your money on this one. But deep down I wanted to believe. I knew that a concept like this really could make for wonderful music, if only it was done right. With taste, with imagination, with respect for the source material -- I mean, it could be really good! Couldn t it?So, with a little trepidation, I purchased Versus. I bought it used, so as to limit my losses. And what do you know.It s better than I d even hoped. My wife loves it too -- we even found that the baby will stop crying when we put it on. She just stares at the speakers with an expression halfway between awestruck and dumbstruck.We love it so much that we were hesitant to buy the original versions (Quiet is the New Loud) until just recently. I figured they would seem empty to us. Wrong again. Blown away again. But that s a subject for a different review.I can go back and forth between this and QitNL without any of that jarring feeling -- you know, like when you hear an old song that your favorite band covered once, and you re so used to the cover that something always seems to be missing, and you can t stop noticing its absence? Well, none of that. It s like each of the artists brings such a new vision to their track that they created a whole new song altogether. Almost all of them, anyway.Maybe if I d bought QitNL first it would be different. I don t know. I say, get this one first. It s a little more hooky.There is a bit of repetition. Personally, I would have chosen just one of the Failure mixes, they re just too similar. Not so with the two versions of Leaning Against The Wall. They re very different and both fantastic and both fit in well. And Four Tet coming back again at the end? Love it. Can t get enough of that one.Usually I try to explain if blah blah, then you ll like this, and if blah blah blah, then you may not. But I don t really know what kind of music fan wouldn t like this disc. I don t know, your mother, maybe. If you see a one-star review ever show up here one day, your mother is suspect.
The best of the Kings of Convenience albums.... - This is a exemplary slice of `Folktronica (Folk inspired Electronica), and with this release they take existing artists (Ladytron, Four Tet, Andy Votel, Röyksopp), and rework them to work within a `Folktronica rearrangement (mostly downtempo melodic harmonies), and if all of this sounds a bit `Pleasant .....you d be right, but that shouldn t distract from what is some of the most blissfully hushed electronic music. `Andy Votel s - Winning a Battle, Losing a War steals the show with it s tremulous choruses, and gentle Synth-Pop strumming, containing as much melancholic ideas, as conventional singer/songwriter acoustic artists.....and although there is nothing song wise (apart from `Ladytron s remixed Little Kids) that raises above quietly melodious grooves, this album has a real substance.....it could even be argued that Quiet!!...is the new Loud!!.
Quiet vs. Loud - Quiet is the New Loud has the accoustic guitars, but Versus has the dancing beats perfect for a ride in the car. From beginning to end, I was amazed to hear that this duo could make their songs even better by adding more sounds. I Don t Know What I Can Save You From shines as track #1, then Little Kids has you singing along until you hit Failure a few more times. I would recommend that Versus could replace Quiet , but then you would be missing out on the fantastic song, Parallel Lines. Whatever you decide, give these two Scandinavians a listen.